India vs Afghanistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Today Match Prediction 22 Jun 2019

ind vs afg Match Prediction & Analysis

India is arguably the best team in the tournament so far and they have wins against South Africa, Australia, and Pakistan with ease. Rohit Sharma is in sublime form scoring two centuries and a fifty in the three matches he played so far. KL Rahul has taken up the opening slot after Shikhar Dhawan`s injury and scored an impressive fifty against Pakistan in the last match.

Skipper Virat Kohli has scored two back to back fifties and led his team to big totals in the last two matches. MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya will be expected to play the role of aggressor in this World cup. Mohammed Shami will replace injured Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in this match and will partner ICC No.1 ranked bowler Jasprit Bumrah with the new ball.

Spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are slowing getting to their best and are troubling the batsmen consistently in the middle overs. Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya are expected to share the fifth bowler`s duty and will slot in all-rounders in the team. Indian team is firing on all cylinders and they are tough to stop when they are on song. 

Afghanistan is reeling at the bottom of the table with a string of losses in the tournament. They are missing the spark inside their team which made them one of the dearest teams for all the fans. Hashmatullah Shahidi and Najibullah Zadran are the only players to score 50+ runs so far. No other batsmen have stood up and their batting line-up has been not up to the mark. They are the only team that has not yet crossed the 250 run mark in the tournament.

Their bowlers had their worst nightmare against England and ended up giving a massive 397 runs. Skipper Gulbadin Naib and Dawlat Zadran have taken 5 wickets each but they have leaked runs at an economy of over 6.5 RPO. Their star bowler Rashid Khan had one of worst bowling figures in ODI history that read 9-0-110-0. They need to regroup and put some impressive performances in the tournament. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

India Preview

Key Players:

KL Rahul – Rahul was promoted to open the batting in Dhawan`s absence and he scored a valiant fifty and shared a 100-run opening partnership. He will look to make a big score that would boost his confidence ahead of the bigger matches to come. 

Kuldeep Yadav – Kuldeep bowled a magical delivery to dismiss Babar Azam last match and it led to a big collapse of the Pakistani line-up. Kuldeep will look to bowl attackingly and take wickets in the middle overs. 

Recent Stats:

Rohit Sharma – 319 runs, Avg. -160, Strike rate – 98, HS-140, 100s-2, 50s-1

Yuzvendra Chahal – 6 wickets, Economy – 6.2 RPO, BB -4/51

India Predicted Playing XI:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, MS Dhoni (Wk), Kedhar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

India Actual Playing XI:

YS Chahal, Lokesh Rahul, Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav, Kuldeep Yadav, Rohit Sharma, JJ Bumrah, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami

Afghanistan Preview

Key Players:

Mohammed Nabi – Mohammed Nabi took 4 wickets against Sri Lanka and that remains his only contribution in the tournament so far. He is yet to neither make a good score with the bat nor take a wicket in the remaining matches.  

Rahmat Shah – Rahmat Shah has scores of 47 & 43 in the last two matches after getting dismissed for single-digit scores in the first three matches. He needs to convert his starts to make a big score and lead his team`s charge with the bat. 

Recent Stats:

Hashmatullah Shahidi – 165 runs, Avg. - 33, Strike rate – 61, HS - 74, 50s-2

Gulbadin Naib – 5 wickets, Economy – 6.5 RPO, BB – 3/68

Afghanistan Predicted Playing XI:

Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ali Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib (c), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Ikram Ali Khil (wk), Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Afghanistan Actual Playing XI:

Ikram Ali Khil, Aftab Alam, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, N Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmat Shah

Weather Conditions

Southampton pitch has some assistance to the faster bowlers early on in the match. Batsmen will find it easier to score as the match progresses.  We can average scores in the range of 260-280 runs. The weather on the match day looks clear and sunny with only 5-10% chances of rain as per the weather forecast. 

Toss: WIN the toss, BOWL First

Both the captains will look to put the opposition batsmen in testing conditions early in the match. Teams batting first were dismissed for scores less than 230 runs in the two matches played here. Chasing will be the best option here.